"That's kind of ingrained in us from a long time ago and we're trying to change that, but it's very hard to change assumptions and values and those things can impact us subconsciously."

Dr Olsen said even when men did have requests for flexible work hours approved, they could face discrimination after the arrangements were put in place.

"You could have a verbal OK or something like that from a boss or from co-workers, but we don't really know or we suspect that a lot of people are still hanging on to traditional norms," he said.

"Even though [employees] may have an arrangement in place, you might find they're not evaluated as well, they're not considered for promotions as often as co-workers who might be working more traditionally.